2005 is not turning out to be my greatest year!  In the wee hours of the
morning last Wednesday I found my Little Buster cold in his cage...gone.
Everything seemed to indicate liver failure, reason unknown.  To be
honest I didn't have a necropsy done, because I was afraid of what it
would show.  I beat myself up enough for mistaking his public piddling
as adrenal symptoms and I was waiting for confirming symptoms.  Lesson
learned...don't ever take strange behavior for granted, it may not be
what you think it is.
 
Gus, his cagemate, (4.5 year old, deaf, panda, male, neutered at 6
months, non Marshall Farms, gets along with no other ferrets other
than Buster, he beats the crap out of them), also seemed to be showing
possible adrenal symptoms, he began to smell funny, not typical "adrenal"
odor.  I remember thinking he smelled like celery.  Both had had exams
three weeks before and discussed my thoughts with the vet who agreed and
said keep any eye on them, they look fine, their weight is the same as it
was last year etc.  Well with Buster's passing I thought, I better get
Gus back to the vet for a CBC.  Well more bad news, Anemia and Kidney
failure.  However the vet was surprised that his urine was clear, he has
been drinking a lot of water.
 
I tried to find treatment info on the FHL but got tons of messages but
not much about treatment...in my panic I may not have run the most
effective search.  I have no idea what to try for this guy, can anyone
make any suggestions or share experience on how long they successfully
supported a ferret in this situation.
 
Here is a brief on his results (showing only what is high or low)
 
BUN     79.2    High
GLU     135     High
RBC     4.82    Low
HCT     25.6    Low
HGB     9.7     Low
MCV     53.2    Low
MCHC    37.8    High
EOS     .004    Low
PLT     104     Low
 
In my fog of shock, I didn't really ask for clarification just about the
future, which is very unclear.  Can anyone shed some light on this.  I am
going to schedule an ultrasound to see if we can find the cause, however
the vet didn't seem very confident about the effectiveness of treatment.
 
Thanks for your help.
 
Amy Robbin
[Posted in FML issue 4754]